Editing Dieterich Buxtehude (section)

====Preludes and toccatas====
The nineteen organ ''praeludia'' (or ''preludes'') form the core of Buxtehude's work and are ultimately considered{{by whom|date=December 2023}} his most important contributions to the music literature of the seventeenth century. They are sectional compositions that alternate between free improvisation and strict counterpoint. They are usually either [[fugue]]s or pieces written in fugal manner; all make heavy use of pedal and are idiomatic to the organ. These preludes, together with pieces by [[Nicolaus Bruhns]], represent the highest point in the evolution of the [[German organ schools|north German organ prelude]], and the so-called ''[[stylus phantasticus]]''. They were undoubtedly among the influences of J.S. Bach, whose organ preludes, toccatas and fugues frequently employ similar techniques.<ref>While John Butt (''Cambridge Companion to Bach'', Cambridge UP, 1997, 110; books.google.com/books?id=MysXAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT110) believes the centrality of Buxtehude's on Bach's ''toccatas'', David Schulenberg emphasizes the influence of several composers. Schulenberg reserves the word "especially" for Johann Adam Reincken: "Closer to a small group of north-German toccatas, especially one by Reincken [...] that resemble the early-Baroque type in being composed of distinct contrasting sections." Schulenberg, ''The Keyboard Music of J.S. Bach'' (NY: Routledge, 1992 [rev. ed., 2013]), 98.
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The preludes are quite varied in style and structure, and are therefore hard to categorize, as no two praeludia are alike.<ref name="Snyder"/> The texture of Buxtehude's praeludia can be described as either free or fugal.<ref name="Archbald">Archbald, Lawrence. Style and Structure in the Praeludia of Dietrich Buxtehude. Ann Arbor: UMI Research Press, 1985.</ref> They consist of strict diatonic harmony and secondary dominants.<ref name="Archbald"/> Structure-wise, there is usually an introductory section, a fugue and a postlude, but this basic scheme is very frequently expanded: both BuxWV 137 and BuxWV 148 include a full-fledged chaconne along with fugal and toccata-like writing in other sections, BuxWV 141 includes two fugues, sections of imitative counterpoint and parts with chordal writing. Buxtehude's praeludia are not circular, nor is there a recapitulation. A fugal theme, when it recurs, does so in a new, changed way.<ref name="Archbald"/> A few pieces are smaller in scope; for example, BuxWV 144, which consists only of a brief improvisatory prelude followed by a longer fugue. The sections may be explicitly separated in the score or flow one into another, with one ending and the other beginning in the same bar. The texture is almost always at least three-voice, with many instances of four-voice polyphony and occasional sections in five voices (BuxWV 150 being one of the notable examples, with a five-voice structure in which two of the voices are taken by the pedal).

The introductory sections are always improvisatory. The preludes begin almost invariably with a single motif in one of the voices which is then treated imitatively for a bar or two. After this the introduction will most commonly elaborate on this motif or a part of it, or on a short melodic germ which is passed from voice to voice in three- or four-voice polyphonic writing, as seen in Example 1:

[[File:Buxtehude-145-intro.gif|center|thumb|810px|'''Example 1''': This is the introduction from Prelude in F major, BuxWV 145. The motivic interaction seen here, in which a short motif is passing from one voice to another, sometimes sounding in two voices simultaneously, was frequently employed by Buxtehude in his preludes, frequently expanded to four voices with heavy use of pedal.]]

Occasionally the introduction will engage in parallel 3rds, 6ths, etc. For example, BuxWV 149 begins with a single voice, proceeds to parallel counterpoint for nine bars and then segues into the kind of texture described above. The improvisatory interludes, free sections and postludes may all employ a vast array of techniques, from miscellaneous kinds of imitative writing (the technique discussed above, or "fugues" that dissolve into homophonic writing, etc.) to various forms of non-motivic interaction between voices (arpeggios, chordal style, figuration over [[pedal point]], etc.). [[Tempo]] marks are frequently present: ''Adagio'' sections written out in chords of whole- and half-notes, ''Vivace'' and ''Allegro'' imitative sections, and others.

[[File:Buxtehude-fugue-subjects.gif|right|thumb|200px|'''Example 2''': Fugue subjects from BuxWV 137, BuxWV 140, BuxWV 142 (two) and BuxWV 153]]

The number of fugues in a prelude varies from one to three, not counting the pseudo-fugal free sections. The fugues normally employ four voices with extensive use of pedal. Most subjects are of medium length (see Example 2), frequently with some degree of repercussion (note repeating, particularly in BuxWV 148 and BuxWV 153), wide leaps or simplistic runs of 16th notes. One of the notable exceptions is a fugue in BuxWV 145, which features a six-bar subject. The answers are usually tonal, on scale degrees 1 and 5, and there is little real modulation. Stretto and parallel entries may be employed, with particular emphasis on the latter. Short and simple countersubjects appear, and may change their form slightly during the course of the fugue. In terms of structure, Buxtehude's fugues are a series of expositions, with non-thematic material appearing quite rarely, if ever. There is some variation, however, in the way they are constructed: in the first and last fugues of BuxWV 136 the second voice does not state the subject as it enters during the initial exposition; in BuxWV 153 the second exposition uses the subject in its inverted form, etc. Fugue subjects of a particular prelude may be related as in [[Froberger]]'s and [[Girolamo Frescobaldi|Frescobaldi]]'s [[ricercar]]s and [[canzona]]s (BuxWV 150, 152, etc.):

[[File:Buxtehude-subjtrans.gif|center]]

The fugal procedure dissolves at the end of the fugue when it is followed by a free section, as seen in Example 4:

[[File:Buxtehude-140-bars39-42.gif|center|thumb|810px|'''Example 4''': The dissolution of the fugue before a free section. The final entry of the subject (in the pedal) is joined by the highest voice engaging in a scale run.]]

Buxtehude's other pieces that employ free writing or sectional structure include works titled ''toccata'', ''praeambulum'', etc.<ref name="Archbald"/> All are similar to the ''praeludia'' in terms of construction and techniques used, except that some of these works do not employ pedal passages or do so in a very basic way (pedal point which lasts during much of the piece, etc.). A well-known piece is BuxWV 146, in the rare key of F-sharp minor; it is believed that this prelude was written by Buxtehude especially for himself and his organ, and that he had his own way of tuning the instrument to allow for the tonality rarely used because of meantone temperament.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Koopman |first=Ton |date=1991 |title=Dietrich Buxtehude's Organworks: A Practical Help |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/965836 |journal=The Musical Times |volume=132 |issue=1777 |pages=148–153 |doi=10.2307/965836 |jstor=965836 |issn=0027-4666}}</ref>